The Boston University men’s basketball team could not complete its comeback, as it fell 80-75 in a back-and-forth contest against Lehigh University.
BU (12-11, 8-4 Patriot League) was down by nine at the half against the Mountain Hawks (10-13, 5-7 Patriot League). A career-high 24 points for sophomore forward Tyler Scanlon was not enough as he missed the potential game-tying three pointer for the Terriers with just seconds remaining.
“I thought defensively he was solid,” BU head coach Joe Jones said. “I would like to see him rebound the ball a little bit better, but I thought offensively he was very good. He shot it well. He puts the ball on the floor.”
For a Lehigh team that lacks size, its problem was that sophomore forward Pat Andree, one of its strongest forces inside, committed two early fouls. Before Andree was forced to sit, he and senior guard Kahron Ross hit a three each to give the Mountain Hawks an early 12-11 lead.
Lehigh was sloppy with the ball early on, turning the ball over three times and giving BU a 16-12 lead.
The Mountain Hawks took a 27-22 lead with 7:46 to play in the first half after a 13-3 run was sparked by Lehigh freshman guard Caleb Bennett, who had eight points during the run.
The Terriers had little three-point success during the first half. Senior guard Will Goff, who leads the team in three-point field goals, struggled most of all, shooting 0-for-5 from behind the arc in the first half.
Contrarily, the Mountain Hawks were strong from three point land. Lehigh was a stellar 8-for-12 from three in the first half. Additionally, every Mountain Hawk who played in the first half scored at least three points.
Scanlon led the way for BU in the first half. The Centreville, Virginia native had eight points to go along with two rebounds and three assists, but the Terriers trailed 40-31 at the break.
BU started the second half strongly, scoring the first seven points. Scanlon tallied five of those seven.
The Terriers tied the game at 45 early in the second half, courtesy of a layup from sophomore forward Max Mahoney. And then Scanlon stayed hot, hitting a three to give BU their first lead since the first half.
Bennett and Scanlon were the main offensive sources for both teams. Both players scored early in the second half as the balance of the game swayed back and forth.
Scanlon continued his career day, connecting on another three to give the Terriers their largest lead of the game at six, 61-55.
“When we recruited [Scanlon], we recruited him to be more than just a jump-shooter,” Jones said. “Last year, I thought he had times and wasn’t able to show much more of his game. This year, he’s able to evolve. He’s got the ball in his hands more, he’s kind of a bigger part of what we do. I think he’s developed pretty nicely.”
Freshman guard Andrew Petcash added a jumper to extend BU’s lead to eight points. The Terriers outscored Lehigh 32-15 in the second half to that point.
The Mountain Hawks tied the game at 68 from a Ross three with just over five minutes to play. Bennett then gave Lehigh the lead to cap an 8-0 run.
Senior forward Nick Havener continued his strong second half after a scoreless first half. Buckets on two straight possessions from Havener gave BU a 73-72 lead.
With 1:24 to go, Jones called timeout with his team up 75-74. After a turnover, Ross gave the Mountain Hawks a one-point lead with 1:04 to play.
“We just struggled defensively for most of the game,” Jones said. “We took control of the game a little bit in the second half. We had some stops … and then we couldn’t hold on, we couldn’t hold on defensively. … I just thought they played with more energy than we did. They made some tough plays late that I thought put them over the top.”
The Terriers missed two threes on the ensuing possession, from Scanlon and Goff, who continued his poor shooting. Goff would end up missing on all eight of his three point attempts.
Junior guard Kyle Leufroy hit two clutch free throws to give Lehigh a three point lead with 28 seconds remaining in regulation.
With Lehigh inbounding with 10 seconds to play, Goff poked the pass away and found the one man BU would have wanted, Scanlon. He was wide open, but his three rimmed out, and the Terriers fell 80-75.
“I thought we didn’t do a great job in what we were trying to do so we didn’t take away their shooting. … We didn’t contest shots well,” Jones said. “We didn’t finish possessions, but I thought we showed some confidence.”
